Dear Families and Community Members,
Earlier this school year, I sent out a letter regarding the ongoing shortage of school bus drivers. In the months since, the district has continued to recruit drivers and has reduced routes as needed to help keep our transportation system running as smoothly as possible.
As the district prepares for the winter sports season we continue to face a driver shortage, especially for transporting our student athletes to events, as the drop-off times are often during the middle of the regular after-school bus routes. We have been considering multiple remedies, including transporting athletes to competitions earlier in the day, trying to contract with other school bus providers and/or charters, adjusting game days and times, and having parents transport the athletes, however, we continue to run into staffing shortages.
After exhausting the aforementioned remedies and parents are not able to make arrangements for personal transport, we may find ourselves in a position, at times, where we are forced to cancel some sporting events. We wanted families to be aware of this possibility as far in advance as possible. If cancellations are necessary, middle school athletic events would be the first to be canceled.
To help us minimize this possibility we are asking you, members of the Airway Heights, West Plains, and Cheney communities collectively, to consider becoming a substitute bus driver. As a substitute driver, you have the option to drive for sporting events only. When transporting athletes, the coach would be on the bus to supervise students. If you are interested in becoming a substitute bus driver the district will pay for your training.
District bus driver training consists of 32 hours of classroom instruction and 20 hours of behind-the-wheel training. Cheney Public Schools will pay you during your training as well as cover the cost of commercial driver license (CDL) testing, the required physical, and the cost of fingerprinting. Additionally, the district will reimburse for the cost of the CDL. Please reach out to the district transportation office at 509-559-4523 if you are interested in becoming a substitute driver or have questions regarding becoming a driver.
Thank you,
Ben Ferney, Ed.D.
Superintendent